"Connection is the energy that is created between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued.”
— Brené Brown
How do the words above resonate with you?
Pause here for a moment and free yourself from distractions:
Take a deep breath in... exhale slowly... deep breath in... exhale slowly... deep breath in... exhale slowly... calm your mind and be present...
What is your connection to the quote above? What comes to mind....
Consider morale...
morale /noun/
the confidence, enthusiasm, and discipline of a person or group at a particular time.
As many return to face-to-face employment, sending children back to school buildings... tensions and emotions run high for many reasons.
Nothing is more unpleasant than being on a team (or on a job... or anywhere for that matter) when nobody wants to be there. -JC Maxwell
How important to you is connecting with others in your professional role? Think about that for a moment...
How do you feel when you are seen, heard, and valued?
Connection to others will certainly help, especially during stressful times. Take a look at this article from forbes.com:
10 Easy Ways To Strengthen Your Bond With Your Team Members:
1. Hold Regular Individual Meetings: Have short meetings with a basic agenda where your team member can share his/her thoughts, concerns and ideas. You can also give constructive feedback for their personal development on an ongoing basis.
2. Include Everyone In Decision Making: Asking “What do you think” or “What are your thoughts” will begin to build trust, engage reports and provide a sense of responsibility. When there is shared decision making, morale is higher. Inclusivity brings trust, engagement, responsibility and motivation.
3. Ask For Feedback On Your Management Style: “How am I doing as a leader and what can I do better?” can be the most powerful questions you can ask. At first, it will be strange for a report to give the honest answer. But when you can get to the point where you are getting honest answers and using that feedback to grow, relationships build quickly.
4. Make Time For Small Talk: In addition to task-oriented conversations, ask your people what they did over the weekend, not just if it was a good weekend. Inquire about the family or vacation photo on their desk. Listen well. Showing your employees that you care about them as humans and not just “task completers” will go a long way.
5. Ask, Listen, Respond And Recognize: People perform at a much higher level when they know they’re seen, heard and valued. To communicate this, take time every week to ask your reports what’s working and what’s not. Listen to their answers. Respond with solutions. And recognize a job well done on a regular basis.
6. Be Transparent About Your Mission And Methodology: Sharing your methodology regularly with your team helps strengthen the communication lines between leader and reports. Showing you care about their development and their goals both personal and professional makes you an invaluable mentor. Once your team understands your mission and methodology it creates a common language, forming a common bond that both parties can work off of for years to come.
7. Focus On The S.M.A.L.L. Things: The key to building relationship currency is through authentic connections. Leaders can do this consistently by remembering the S.M.A.L.L. things: Show thanks often; Motivate your team; Acknowledge and award hard work; Lead by example; and Learn from your team as much as you teach. The S.M.A.L.L. model creates a two-way exchange you can build on.
8. Be Thoughtful: Leaders should know their reports personally as well as professionally. This means doing at least a little something for their birthday, knowing preferences that come up daily (she likes tea, not coffee), genuinely asking about their kids, their spouse or their pets, and noticing when something is off. If someone is overly tired or uncharacteristically upset, inquire if they want to share and listen.
9. Act On Their Feedback: Many leaders have regular weekly or monthly meetings where brainstorming and feedback occurs. Often when the meeting ends, that is where the creative ideas die or are put on the shelves with no further actions taken. An easy way to strengthen relations is to simply value their feedback and to implement their ideas. When employees feel heard, a new sense of employer/employee connectedness happens.
10. Acknowledge Your Employees With A Smile: It sounds so simple, but when we humans are stressed and/or are in deep in thought, our jaw clenches, resulting in a look of annoyance. To add perceived insult to injury, leaders who are driven by urgency and a destination become myopic and may fail to recognize those around them. A simple acknowledgment of reports will alleviate the fear that the leader is “mad” or unapproachable.
How will you intentionally strengthen your connections: Personally... Socially, and Professionally? What are you willing to do?
Don’t miss your opportunity! Be intentional... Encourage others to do the same and watch what happens.
You got this!
Coach Tavia
#selfdiscovery, #trustyourself, #beabetteryou, #learnandgrow, #yourchoice, #yourjourney, #ittakescourage, #confidence, #justdoit, #faith, #wisdom, #responsibility, #selfawareness, #honoryourself, #commitment, #intention, #learnthelesson, #youhavearighttoyouruniqueness, #shareyourgifts, #powerforward, #bepresent, #leadbyexample, #leadershipdevelopment, #leadershipcoach, #lifecoach, #letsgo,
References:
Maxwell, John C; Leadership Promises for Everyday, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN 2003
10 Easy Ways to Strengthen Your Bond with Your Team Members
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